Box Score WICHITA – The Newman women's basketball team used strong defense and a hot shooting offense to pull away for a 69-55 win against St. Edward's on Thursday (Feb. 6) at Fugate Gymnasium. The Lady Jets improved to 12-10 and 9-7 in the Heartland Conference, and the Hilltoppers dropped to 13-6 and 8-5 in the Heartland Conference.
 
The Lady Jet started the game on a 16-2 in the first 6:25 of the game. The Hilltoppers cut the deficit to four at 25-21 with 2:09 left in the half, but NU went on a quick spurt to go up 32-25 at halftime.
 
With the Lady Jets up 40-36 with 15:17 remaining, NU went on an 8-0 run in the next 5 minutes to open up a 48-36 advantage. The lead remained double digits for the majority of the time left as SEU pulled to within nine, 55-46, and within eight, 57-49 at 4:49. NU won 69-55.  
 
NU shot 55.8 percent (24-43) from the field and 40 percent (4-10) from 3-point range. Alexandra Ciabattoni shot 80 percent on 8-of-10 shooting for 21 points. She added nine rebounds, three blocks and two steals. Shekeira Copeland scored 15 points, and Cheniqwa Banks totaled 11 points.
 
The Lady Jet defense held SEU to 30.9 percent shooting (21-68) from the field.
 
NU returns to action on Saturday (Feb. 8) at 1 p.m. against McMurry.